Nielsen Examines Sports Radio And Millennial Listening

December 7, 2017 at 6:00 AM (PT)

NIELSEN used its NOVEMBER PPM wirepost to spotlight sports coverage on the radio and changes in Millennial music tastes.

The ratings service saw over a 30% increase in the annual upswing of Sports radio listening. The rise in audience correlates to football coverage and the major league baseball playoffs. But radio listening didn’t just spike in markets where there was local interest. Sports radio across the U.S. enjoyed an increase, no doubt due to the WORLD SERIES.

Millennial listening to music formats also changed. Urban radio has risen in popularity among Millennials from a 5% share to a 6.5%. At the same time, Rhythmic Top 40 declined from the third-ranked format to the sixth-ranked format now (7.2%-4.9% share). Mainstream Top 40 has maintained the top spot, but has trended flat to slightly down.